The movie IRON SKY is about to hit Australian cinema screens with the force of vengeful history. If you haven’t heard about it, then you only really need to know this; for the past 70 years there have been Nazis living on the dark side of the Moon – and now they are ready to attack the Earth. It may seem a little far-fetched but the makers of this science-fiction adventure comedy have thought through their nightmare scenario.
In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. During 70 years of utter secrecy, the Nazis construct a gigantic space fortress with a massive armada of flying saucers.
When American astronaut James Washington puts down his Lunar Lander a bit too close to the secret Nazi base, the Moon Führer decides the glorious moment of retaking the Earth has arrived sooner than expected. The Fourth Reich must act immediately!
The film is a Finnish-German-Australian co-production shot in Frankfurt and Brisbane with effects produced in Finland. News of the production for IRON SKY has been bubbling away on the Internet since 2006. The producers of the film have financed most of their €7.5 million budget with traditional European and Australian funding sources, however almost one million Euros came directly from IRON SKY fans.
These fans discovered the embryonic sci-fi movie through social media. IRON SKY has 15,000 YouTube subscribers, 150,000 Facebook fans; the latest trailer has more than 8 million hits and the various promotional videos have notched up in excess of 20 million views. There are also plans for IRON SKY prequel comics, a novelisation of the screenplay, a book about the making of the movie and a video game. Fans of avant-garde Slovenian band Laibach are also well-served by IRON SKY, they have composed the movie’s soundtrack and have released it as an album.
Although, the stars and filmmakers behind IRON SKY are relatively unknown, their consummate skill in promoting the over-the-top project has become a model for other independent filmmakers.
AccessReel and Hoyts Distribution present an exclusive Perth preview screening of IRON SKY on Wednesday May 9th at Carousel, Cannington. If you’d like a shot at winning a double pass, then hit this link and follow the instructions.
IRON SKY screens in Australia from May 10, 2012.
